The Trump campaign marked Juneteenth by calling for unity and touting President Trump’s work for the black community.
“While even today our nation continues to work towards healing from this legacy of the past, we look ahead with optimism that there is far more that unites us in America than divides us,” Senior Adviser to Donald J. Trump for President Katrina Pierson said in a statement.
Ms. Pierson highlighted Mr. Trump’s record on criminal justice reform, job numbers, particularly for minority groups, and support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
“President Trump will build on this record even further in the years ahead to help build a new and great legacy for all African Americans,” she added.
Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, marks the day Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger proclaimed all slaves in Texas — one of the last holdouts of slavery in the U.S. — were free.
It came two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, but with the surrender of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in 1865, Union forces had the strength to enforce it.
In a statement issued by the White House, Mr. Trump and first lady Melania Trump said Juneteenth “reminds us of both the unimaginable injustice of slavery and the incomparable joy that must have attended emancipation.”
“It is both a remembrance of a blight on our history and a celebration of our nation’s unsurpassed ability to triumph over darkness,” they said.
Last week, Mr. Trump announced he was delaying his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by a day “out of respect” of the Juneteenth holiday.
Those critical of the president’s latest rally also noted that Tulsa is the site of one of the worst massacres of blacks in U.S. history in 1921.
Sen. Kamala D. Harris, California Democrat, called the planned rally “a welcome-home party” for white supremacists.
The new emphasis on Juneteenth from political leaders across Washington comes as the country is grappling with how to address the legacy of slavery and racial tensions after the death of George Floyd, who was killed when a white officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.
• Dave Boyer contributed to this report.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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